Some of your posts are more popular than others, and most of us do a good job of highlighting our popular posts for new visitors on our site. With that said, there are several things you can do with your proven content that can take your brand, blog and business to the next level. Here are 10 specific strategies you can use right now...

Cendrine Marrouat - SocialMediaSlant.com's insight:

I absolutely love this article from Pat Flynn! There are so many takeaways that it's not even funny.

My favorite tips:

- Add the posts to your resource page (#3)

- Share succcess stories related to your most popular content (#6)

- Make a YouTube video related to those posts (#7)

For #6, he recommends to contact commenters directly if you don't have anything to share and instead highlight their stories. This is a great idea!

Like Joanne Tombrakos, I see a lot of misconceptions about personal branding. According to some, only LinkedIn matters. Twitter and Facebook are just for fun, Google+ is a ghost town, and Pinterest is just useful if you need to find a good recipe or ideas to redecorate your home.

The truth of the matter is that people WILL Google you. Employers will look at your Tweets and Facebook posts to determine if you are a potential fit. And we all know what happens to the brands that refuse to be human.

Adding a little slice of who you are as a person is what differentiates you from the noise. I am not suggesting sharing pictures of you dancing on a bar stool - unless that happens to be what you do for a living - but I am suggesting your profile sounds like and looks like you and gives me something beyond a list of job skills.

A few months ago, I came across an interesting article published on Muck Rack. Written by Austin Cross, "The 10 commandments of pitching" is a compendium of bad pitching practices and an attempt at changing the way many brands and PR pros approach members of the media.

One of the first questions brands and marketers ask themselves before jumping on the social media bandwagon involves Return on Investment. They want to know that their financial investments will pay off in terms of brand recognition, leads, and market penetration. The ROI of social media exists. But it works differently from old-fashioned ROI because it …

Cendrine Marrouat - SocialMediaSlant.com's insight:

The ROI of social media exists...

...Only if you are willing to accept two things:

- It is multi-layered

- It doesn't always translate into immediate revenue.

In my latest contribution for B2B News Network, I share four examples of companies that got awesome results by paying attention to their customers.

But is it that important? Apart from my obvious hyperbole, are more Facebook likes truly going to create massive engagement, viral excitement, and blast revenue to new heights of glory and awesomeness?

Cendrine Marrouat - SocialMediaSlant.com's insight:

Neil Patel's great insights shine once again. Interesting data that shows what has always been a mistakes by businesses: Stop chasing Facebook "likes"!

While many marketers confess to still being stumped when it comes to measuring social media's return on investment, at least one major brand seems to feel pretty confident about it: KLM Royal DutchAirlines, the flagship carrier of the Netherlands, long a standout for its forward-thinking social media strategy.

Cendrine Marrouat - SocialMediaSlant.com's insight:

It's not a secret that KLM is one the best social companies in the world. Here is an article that proves it once again.

MediaPost's Erik Sass writes about two interesting ideas the team has experimented with:

- "the company’s social media channels function as their own e-commerce channels, so customers can actually convert while still on the social platforms."

The result? According to KLM social media hub manager Gert Wim ter Haar, the company makes €100,000 every week from that platform alone.

- "after noticing a high volume of customer complaints on social media about how long it was taking to claim lost property, the airline began sending teams to check planes and return lost items immediately after landing -- then promoted the new service with a video on social media."

This may make sense to websites like NowThis News and Reported.ly, but as an entrepreneur, I really don't understand the logic.

I know that Facebook is huge right now, but building a presence on borrowed land is the exact reason why so many business owners are so discouraged. They are at the beck and call of a platform that changes the rules almost monthly.

Making such a jump is not an easy decision.

"We don’t call it betting on the future, but betting on revenue streams that don’t only exist in having your own environment.”

I consider it not seeing the big picture. But of course, I would love to be wrong!

There is nothing new in this article written by Jayson Demers. However, since so many companies still use social media as a broadcasting channel, I think the reminders are vital.

I especially like point #1: "Not properly vetting and supervising your social media managers." The example he cites (American Apparel and its use of the Challenger space shuttle that exploded in midair) is perfect here.

A while ago, I discussed my passion for curation in a LinkedIn article. It forced me to reflect on my habits and why I had began my career as a curator.

Reading Rohit Bhargava's post was the icing on the cake in terms of food for thought, though. He truly understands curation and what makes its practitioners important pieces of the content marketing puzzle.

According to him, curators are curious, observant, fickle, thoughtful, and elegant. Fickle because they capture

"ideas without needing to fully understand or analyze them in that same moment. On the surface, this may seem counterintuitive. After all, when you find a great idea, why wouldn't you take the time to analyze it and develop a point of view? Yet, freeing yourself from doing so as a necessity can enable you to see and collect more ideas. A key part of becoming an idea curator is learning to save ideas for later digestion."

Intelligent discussions on curation are happening, and it's heart-warming to see!

Social media and technology have changed the way people research and buy products. Unfortunately, B2B suppliers, manufacturers, and organizations have had a hard time adapting to this new and quickly evolving reality. With that idea in mind, the team behind digital marketing company Acquity Group surveyed 500 U.S.-based procurement officers with annual purchasing budgets of …

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.